Monthly Archives: October 2014

Hi and welcome to another Weather Wednesday. This week it is the 2nd anniversary of Hurricane Sandy and all events surrounding it. As a note of interest, this post, is exactly 2 weeks after the 60th anniversary of hurricane Hazel, which affected Southern Ontario after copious amounts of rain had fallen and the hurricane itself wasn’t actually a hurricane anymore.

If you like more on that just look at Wikipedia. It started on October 26th when the first weather statements were issued for Southern Ontario. I had just got back from Minden where I was speaking to the Minden Amateur Radio Club about Weather Radio and how a transmitter was and still is needed for the area. When it all started with the first special weather statement from Environment Canada, it got me thinking about Hurricane Hazel and the impact it had on Toronto in 1954. Of course, I wasn’t even a twinkle in my Father’s eyes yet and I wouldn’t be in this world for another 19 years.

However, this made me very aware of what could happen if a natural disaster were to occur and I was unable to get out of my apartment, without being forced outside by the power of the winds and killed. As a Ham Radio operator and an ARES member I am very in the loop with the news and I try to keep up with it 24/7. This of course, includes any severe weather events.

As for Sandy, it was a storm which ushered in the next wave of colder air and it made it rain steadily for 3 or 4 days strait and on Monday October 29th a wind warning was issued for most of Southern Ontario, including the GTA.

I actually have more on this in the Weather Radio Listeners Newsletter, in Issue 6. If you would like to get on the mailing list, just sent me an email at the following email address below.

If you have any comments you can reply here or email me at blindgordie@gmail.com and I will get back to you.
Also, for more weather stuff you can subscribe to my Weather Radio Listeners Newsletter mailing list by emailing me at wxrnewsletter@gmail.com and I will send you all the issues so far. You will also receive the next issue when it comes out.
Another blog you may want to follow alongside this one is from Phil Chadwick. He is a retired meteorologist from Environment Canada and his specialty was severe weather. Here is the url.
philtheforecaster.blogspot.com
Check it out if you are a weather nut. He has stuff in there that I didn’t even know. Well, after all, he did work for Environment Canada for many years and he retired in 2011.
Well, that’s it for today’s blog post. Talk to you on Sunday.

Hi all and welcome to another Simpsons Sunday entry in the blog, on Saturday. This week is the first anniversary of the death of Marcia Wallace, who voiced Bart Simpsons 4th Grade teacher Edna Krabappel. Her character was also married to Ned Flanders from Season 23 to Season 25, until her death.

Like the murder of John Lennon and the September 11th attacks, I remember where I was when I heard that she died. It was a Saturday morning on October 26 2013. I had just woke from a nap and had checked my messages on my iPhone, including Twitter. That was where I first read that she Had passed away and I was very upset to hear the news. Here is what I received on Twitter that morning. https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=538337769579992&l=68b2f2465a

Over the past few months prier to this I had been catching up with episodes I had missed and reading up on all the main and supporting cast. Despite the character she voiced on The Simpsons I didn’t think she was like that at all. In fact, I thought she was as everyone had been tweeting and blogging about her, that she was a very kind, very sweet woman. This was also my first experience with breaking news of someone dying via Twitter.

I have mentioned why I believe that she was as gentle as she was in past entries and it has to do with how Mrs. Krabappel reacted to Bart crying after actually making an honest effort to pass a test in school. This showed me that when Mrs. Krabappel was comforting Bart that it was the real Marcia coming out as a part of the character. When she said “there there” and comforted him that convinced me just who the person behind the voice was.

I think it was the right thing to do, for The Simpsons to retire the character in her memory. It wouldn’t be the same if someone else tried to voice her and it would be like a singer replacing another who had either left the band or passed away. For example: could you really replace Freddie Mercury in Queen? or Paul Rogers in Bad Company? Well, Bad Company tried but it wasn’t the same.

I also like how Edna was retired and that last seen in The Man Who Grew Too Much was nice. It was great when Edna Krabappel was an alive character and now that she is gone, it is a turning point in the series. Who will Bart’s next teacher be on a permanent basis? Will this new teacher be able to become as popular a character as Mrs. Krabappel was? Only time will tell and it is certainly exciting and sad at the same time. This new teacher will add a new energy to The Simpsons.

In the news, last week it was announced that Sammy Hagar who currently sings for the soopergroup Chickenfoot and once sang for van Halen and Montrose will be guest starring on the episode Cover Craft. It is said to be a very musical episode and will air on November 23rd.

As for Sammy Hagar’s other band besides Van Halen, check out the first album from Montrose. It has a classic track Bad Moter Scooter and another gem is Rock The Nation. This album alone helped to inspire some 1980s bands to form, such as: Tesla and Extreme. It really isn’t a surprise that Gary Cherone replaced him in Van Halen in 1996, because they have a similar style but Sammy’s range is a bit higher. I think they have even sang together on stage a few times too. I also know that Sammy has spoken highly of Queen guitarist Brian May too. You may not know this but Sammy is also a great guitarist in his own right. He has even played guitar alongside Eddie Van Halen, while in van Halen during some shows.

Sammy Hagar also has a successful solo career with his best-known song being I Can’t Drive 55. Another one of his more well known songs being There’s Only One Way To Rock. Check out his wikipedia page. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Hagar
I can’t wait to hear what he does on The Simpsons… This is going to be just as cool if Slipknot ever guest starrs on the show.

On the birthday front, Nancy Cartwright turns another year older today. She of course, voices Bart Simpson, Ralph Wiggum, Nelson Muntz and other child characters on the show. If you haven’t read it or heard it yet, I encourage you to buy her book My Life As A 10-Year-Old Boy. If you get the audiobook version it will give you the whole experience as she does voices from the Simpsons and others. I downloaded it from iTunes earlier this year and I love listening to her go on about The Simpsons and other things she touches on in the book.

Another notable birthday is Seth MacFarlane, who turns 41 tomorrow and is the creator of: Family Guy, American dad, the Cleveland show, cosmos and other shows. He has guested as Ben on the Season 24 finale Dangers On A Train.

One thing that both myself and Seth have in common is that we are the same age but I’m a few months older than him. If I wasn’t 3 months premature I would have probably been born in September 1973 and would be 1 month older than him.

Another thing we have in common is music. We have both written songs but none of mine have ever been big radio hits. In fact only one song has ever been recorded back in 1997, when I was 23 going on 24 years old. If you would like to hear it, sorry, it isn’t on iTunes and the only way to get it is from me directly. The other musical difference between the two of us is that he is more into traditional pop, jazz and swing. I am more of a rock and heavy metal guy.

Another birthday coming up is Dan Castellaneta, who turns 57 on Wednesday. He of course, voices: homer Simpson, Krusty The Clown, Groundskeeper Willie, Barney Gumble, Grandpa Simpson, Mayor Quimby and other male characters on The Simpsons. He has also released 2 solo albums: Two Lips and I Am Not Homer, which features the song So Dumb (Homer’s Lament).

If you ever hear him being interviewed his speaking voice is so different from the majority of the characters he voices on The Simpsons and he is also a great writer and singer too.

As usual to end each Simpsons Sunday post, I recommend checking out Chris Ladesma’s blog. He is the Music Editor for The Simpsons and has been since day 1.http://simpsonsmusic500.wordpress.com/author/simpsonsmusic500/
I also recommend checking out Yeardley Smith’s blog at http://gobbingoff.tumblr.com
I should also mention Marchez Vous, which is her women’s shoe designer company, which she started earlier in the decade. You can check out their website athttp://www.marchesvous.com
For some strange reason everyone I know hasn’t heard of them yet. Hopefully I can change that.
You can also comment here or you can email me at blindgordie@gmail.com and I will reply as soon as I can to all messages I receive. I would much prefer getting an email so I can reply directly to you, but that’s just me.
One final thing to mention is that you can follow Simpsons Executive Producer Al Jean on Twitter and his Twitter handle is @AlJean.
He has ran the show since Season 13 and has ran it during Seasons 3 and 4.
Anyway, that is it for this weeks post. Talk to you again on Weather Wednesday.

Hi and welcome to yet another blog entry for this week. Today is the second anniversary of the release of the first part of House Of Golden Bones by the hard rock band Stone Sour, lead by Slipknot singer Corey Taylor.

Both parts of House Of Golden Bones are a concept double album, which is about a character known as The Human. I’m not going to get into the story because it would take me forever to write about all of it and I don’t want to make a novel out of a blog post. Let’s just say that the lyrics all ty together in the second part and some of the music does too. For example: The Travelers, Parts 1 and 2 and The Conflagration have some moments when the music and words are the same. Just listen to both of these tracks and you will hear what I am talking about. The same is true with A Roomer Of Skin and Do Me A Favour, as well as the lead single from Pt. 1, Absolute Zero and the title track and the last song of Pt. 2, House Of Golden Bones. One other thing worth mentioning is the track Ru486 is on Pt. 1 and the title is chanted by multiple voices at the end of The Conflagration and the beginning of The House Of Golden Bones.

This doesn’t mean that Corey and the rest of the band are running out of idea’s. This is just a way to link everything together and most concept albums have moments in particular songs that sound similar to each other, with some of the same music or words. For example: when pink Floyd released The Wall in 1979, there are certain songs which have passages which are similar and use the same notes to link certain songs to each other thematically. Hay You and The Trial use the same key and use the same 3 note melody at points in those songs. Also, The Wall seems to end and start with a musical passage which is started at the end and is continued at the beginning of the album. If you have it in your iTunes library put it on repeat and listen to the last song and it will go right into In The Flesh on Side 1. You will notice how seamless it is.

In the case of House Of Golden Bones, the song itself and Gon Sovereign start with the same D flat chord. The difference is that Gone Sovereign fades in and The House Of Golden Bones fades out at the end. I took a listen to them both one right after the other on iTunes and I hear how something as subtle, as the beginning of one album and the end of another can link both albums together. You could also say that melancholy And The infinite Sadness by The Smashing pumpkins also uses the same or a similar technique. The title track being played on piano and the end of Good Night use the same chord sequence.

Another example in recent memory is hypnotize and Mesmerize by System Of A Down in 2005. Hypnotize was released first in May of that year and began with a song called Soldier Side as the intro and the second album Mesmerize ended with the song called Soldier Side as a full song. Those two songs were played together on the radio when mesmerize was just about to be released on a “World Premier” special about both albums in November of that year. The other thing to keep in mind is that the song Lonely Day, which comes before the full length song “Soldier side” ends with the same guitar feedback which also ends the intro version of the same song on Hypnotize, before going into B.Y.O.B. If you listen to either of the two versions of Soldier Side together or Lonely Day and the full length song it is very clever how the sequencing was done and how those songs were mixed and linked together. Anyway, I digress

The first part of House Of Golden Bones was released 2 years ago today and the second part dropped on April 9th 2013. I remember that because I had a dentist appointment that day and I had bought 3 CD’s that day: The Way Of The Fist by Five Finger Death Punch, the self-titled debut album by Device and of course, House Of Golden Bones Pt. 2. I also had a chance to hear it in its entirety the night before on Youtube. Unfortunately, it was in mono and the sound quality was not even close to being MP3 or better. But, I can’t complain because I got to hear it before I bought it and that was a first for me.

As for songs that I like that didn’t get a lot of attention, I took a liking to: A Roomer Of Skin, My Name Is Allen and The Travelers, Pt. 1 from House Of Golden Bones Pt. 1. From the second part I like: Black John, Stalemate, The Conflagration and The House Of Golden Bones. I also had no problem with the singles that were released off both albums too. My favourite of the singles is Absolute Zero because it was played on the radio and it rocks. For some reason Stone Sour’s biggest songs are the softer ones and that’s fine but that isn’t the only strong point of the band. After all, Corey Taylor sings for Slipknot and Jim Root also plays guitar for them too. Now Jim is out of Stone Sour and someone else is currently a touring second guitarist. I guess we will just have to wait and see how things shake out after Slipknot is done with .5: The Gray Chapter.

There is also a Canadian connection to the two albums, in that they were both produced by David Bottrill, who is from Dundas Ontario. He has worked with such artists as: Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, Dream Theater, Staind, God Smack, Mudvayne and Tool, to name a few. When I heard he was the producer I knew this would be interesting because of his work with Tool and in particular, one of my favourite Tool albums Ænima from 1996. I liked how the drums sounded on it and I had a feeling that House Of Golden Bones would sound different because Stone Sour is a different band from Tool, obviously. I also didn’t think they would go for the long songs and progressive rock that Tool went for on Ænima. However, they did use samples and spoken word passages on some songs. For example: at the beginning of Ru486 there is a piece of a record or something that sounds like one, for patients who are trying to relax. This however, tells the patient to become tense and very nervous. I don’t know where they got it from but I thought it was brilliant, how they did that with that record.

Another example of this is at the beginning of Black John, where there is some strange music and at one point it mutates into what sounds like a broken record, for a few seconds before the band kicks in with the song. I’m sure that Dave had an influence on that and the band seemed fine with it.

House Of Golden Bones may not have been Stone Sour’s most successful albums but it did spell a turning point in the band, in that they were the last 2 albums with Jim Root, before he was fired in 2014, for some reason. I don’t understand it because Corey and Jim are also in Slipknot too. Was it a decision made by band majority and Corey was overruled? What happened? I heard that he was fired because he wanted to cut down on touring so work with Slipknot could progress faster and he was fired over the phone. I wonder what the relationship between him and Corey Taylor is like now? I guess time will tell.

Anyway, if you don’t have either parts of House Of Golden Bones I strongly encourage you to purchase one or both because the music and the story are very interesting.

Hi there and welcome to another Weather Wednesday. This week I’m going to talk about Weather Radio Manufacturers and the difference between them and their weather Radio products.

If I had to say my least favorite manufacture it would be Reacom because… Despite being much like my favorite manufacture of weather radio’s my problem is that the default settings are not standardized on all products. It is hard for someone like myself to set up a weather radio if I don’t know what the defaults are and then of course, I can’t use the unit to the best of my ability. Another problem is that there is one product which can only be programmed using a computer. I don’t like that and if I buy a weather radio I want to buy one which I can program by hand, first and foremost. that is why the defaults are so important for me to know what they are and if it is the same on all models.

My second least favorite manufacturer of weather radio’s is Oregon Scientific, who make: weather stations, atomic clocks another neat toys. Weather radios are not really at the top of their priority list but they have made a few and I have at least two of them: the W-R602 and the W-R601. The former was actually known as the W-R108 before it was recalled in late summer 2007 because it wasn’t alerting properly. That is one of my main concerns with that particular model and I find it hard to program in general. Although, I have used it for a couple of years until, well, see below.

Now, my favorite manufacturer is Midland Corporation and their weather radios are just outstanding in all manner of aspects. I find them easy to use although, I don’t program the SAME codes for my area because that is the one problem I have with any weather radio. However, all weather radios have an option where you can leave it on any or all counties and it will alert you to all watches and warnings where you are. The other advantage for me is that watches, warnings and advisories all send out different alarm sounds from the weather radio’s speaker or a head set for private listening. This makes it easier to figure that either a watch warning or advisory is being issued from my area so I don’t have to wait for the voice. However, I do listen through everything including the alarm. My favorite three models are: the W-R300, the W-R120 and the HH54VP model. The first two are desktop models and the latter is a handheld. I have discussed them all in past issues of my newsletter and in past entries in this blog. You may check it out if you like. There are other manufacturers out there such as: Uniden, Alert Works, Ambient Weather, Sangean and many more.

If you have any comments you can reply here or email me at blindgordie@gmail.com and I will get back to you.
Also, for more weather stuff you can subscribe to my Weather Radio Listeners Newsletter mailing list by emailing me at wxrnewsletter@gmail.com and I will send you all the issues so far. You will also receive the next issue when it comes out.
Another blog you may want to follow alongside this one is from Phil Chadwick. He is a retired meteorologist from Environment Canada and his specialty was severe weather. Here is the url.
philtheforecaster.blogspot.com
Check it out if you are a weather nut. He has stuff in there that I didn’t even know. Well, after all, he did work for Environment Canada for many years and he retired in 2011.
Well, that’s it for today’s blog post. Talk to you on Sunday.

Hi all and this is yet another entry in the blog about my adventures with iOS 8. In my last entry I mentioned how I wasn’t able to use the bloo tooth keyboard anymore with the last update. Now, with iOS 8.1 it is now possible again to use it and compose entries for this blog and other things I like to do on my iPhone. If I hadn’t bitched about it and others hadn’t done the same, we would still have no use for a bloo tooth keyboard and I would be composing entries with stupid mistakes that I make, while either typing on the screen or by speech.
I really am much happier with the new update and hopefully further improvements annd bug fixes can be made. All I can say is thank you Apple for listening to us again, in particular those of us who use the accessibility features on our devices.

Hello my fellow maggots and non-maggots alike. Today, it is the release of the new album by slipknot entitled.5: The Gray Chapter. It is the bands first studio effort in six years and this is my second look at it.

In my last entry on this album, I took a very very basic look at it and I only mention things that stood out for me on the first listen. This time, I’m going to take a much more in-depth look at the album and all the songs because, this marks the new chapter in the band because they lost two key members since All Hope Is Gone was released in August 2008: Paul Gray passed away on May 24, 2010 and Joey Jordison had parted ways with the band last December. There has been no official word on why he is now out of the band but there have been comments on the Internet about it and I will not mention him here because, I wish to respect both the band and Joey. Thanks to both Paul Gray and Joey Jordison for their hard work in the band over the past many many years. You are missed by the fans worldwide.

Okay, let’s begin talking about the new album. Shall we?

Slipknot have always started their albums with a song that is usually played not by the band but as a recording during some of their shows before the band goes on stage. The very first song 742617000027 off the first album is a prime example of this. It has been used many times before the song Sic has been played, whether it is a show opener or as an encore. I can envision the track Xix being the former.

This leads into the track Sarcastrophe, which starts out deceivingly creepy and rather quiet at first but eventually becomes the slipknot potential show opener that it probably will be on the Prepare For Hell tour and the rest of the touring cycle for this record. My theory is that the band will not actually start playing the song until it actually kicks in. Is a very good song as a Second track on a Slipknot album and as I said, will be a great show opener for the band to play. The crowd will no doubt get into the song right away, as it is a potential Slipknot anthem in waiting. It is also one of the two songs played in the key of A natural. The other being The Devil And I, which I will get into later on.

The track AOV is another appropriately sequence song on the album. I say that because it not only showcases the same aggression that Sarcastrophe does, with blast beats and screaming and growled vocals from Corey Taylor but it also gives us a real melodic chorus as well. It reminds me of a song like Sulfur from All Hope Is Gone, as it has the potential to be released as a possible single down the road. however, due to the sound of the song itself it may be limited in success as a single and could be another potential fan favorite.

The Devil And I is track 4 and of course, the first radio single off the album. As you may have noticed throughout Slipknots career, track 4 has always been a single off each album: wait And Bleed from Slipknot, My Plague from Iowa, Duality from Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses, Psycho Social from All Hope Is Gone and of course, The Devil And I from.5: The Gray Chapter are all track 4 off of their respective albums and singles. In some cases the same is true with Corey Taylor’s other band Stone Sour in that, Say You’ll Haunt me and Sillyworld are both track 4 off of their respective albums as well. In the case of The Devil and I, it is a good radio single but it presents a challenge because of the blast beats which occur just before the final two chorus’s of the song. However, I like the song as it is and it should be left alone.

Killpop is the fifth track on the album and I wouldn’t consider it a balid as such. I would consider it a slower creepier song for slipknot. No, it is not a slow Dirgie creepy song like Skin Ticket or Gehenna. I would consider it there attempt at writing a love song but in a darker vain along the lines of Snuff. this song also has the potential to be released as a single but because of the screaming at the end of it there could be a problem. So, I’m sure that if the song is chosen, I think there could be a way to get the song released as a single and not have it being a challenge. Then again, this is Slipknot and they will do what feels right for them.

Skeptic is the sixth track on the album and is a song which showcases the albums live feel. The song begins with someone in the band (probably Clown) saying the word “test” then the song starts after a count in by the drummer. I don’t have much to say about the song because it is a typical Slipknot song in that it is aggressive and and anthemic.

Lech is track 7 and is both a tippical Slipknot song and has a slow creepy side to it, like Skin Ticket and Gehenna. I don’t know if it will be a potential live favourite but there is always a possibility of it being played. After all, Skin Ticket was played for the first time on the Vol. 3 tour.

Goodby starts out quiet and ominous, much like the song Blue Smoke from House Of Golden BonesPt. 2 and it starts in the same key of E flat minor. However the song starts out this way and builds, while changing key to the more common be natural. This song reminds me a lot of Gently from Iowa, in that they both start out quiet and they both build to an aggressive climax. The difference here is that the song goes right into the next one.

Nomadic is track number nine on the album and could be a potential single in that the chorus is very strong. But, there is also the problem of the song being possibly too aggressive for radio. Well, I’m sure there are a couple of horror movies that could use a song or two. This song reminds me a lot of My Plague from Iowa in that the verses are aggressive and the chorus is melodic. I really hope this song gets a chance, much like the next one.

The One That Kills The Least is track 10 on the album and much like nomadic it deserves a chance to be a potential single. Once again, the verses are aggressive and the chorus is melodic. I really really hope that this song and Nomadic get their chance to be potential singles, either for radio or just a plain single.

Custer on the other hand, may not be a single. In fact, I expected to be a live favorite for both the band and the fans. The chorus is meant for audience participation much like We Will Rock You. Then again, much like Surfacing it could be released as a promotional single. Actually, I think it is. Will it usurp Surfacing as a potential show closer? No I don’t think so, however it could be a real fun song for both the band and the maggots. The song starts out with Clown leading the band into the song by vocalizing the main riff. All I can say is, cool!

You Must Prepare For hell is the 12th track on the album and could also be a show opener. This song is much more of the avant-garde side of Slipknot in that, the song could also be used as something to play for the fans while changing masks or taking a break before going on for an encore. I don’t know but i’m sure they have ideas. This song is not sung by Corey Taylor and I think that Clown does the vocals on this track.

The Negative One is the very first single off the album and is a much more traditional Slipknot song. This song could’ve easily fit as track 2 but for some reason they decided to put it at track 13. Well, at least it was released as the first single to the fans.

If Rain Is What You Want is the final track on the standard version of the album. It is a much slower song and as in the case with all closing or near closing songs on Slipknot albums, it is emotional.

On the first album, the track, scissors is featured and it is very very emotionally disturbing, period. Iowa amps it up tenfold and ends the album Iowa leaving you feeling like you’ve just left a gravesite transformed into a very haunted house.

In the case of Vol. 3, The songs The Virus Of Life and Danger Keep Away are both emotional. The former is frightening and the latter is just plain sad.

All Hope Is Gone ends with three emotional songs: Where In Lies Continue, Snuff and All Hope Is Gone. The first is politically charged, the second is an attempt at a dark power ballad and the third is an aggressive angry song.

In the case of If Rain Is What You Want, the song is just plain dark. It is slow, trippy and well, emotional in that it is full of hopelessness, anger and sadness. The last words of the song our “my sad eyes never sleep again.”

The bonus track Override is a great song and could also easily fit on a Stone Sour album too. Musically, it sounds like it could have fit somewhere on either House Of Golden Bones Pt. 1 or 2. I’m not sure that it would have fit with the rest of The songs lyrically. don’t forget, those two albums are made up of a specific story.

The Burden is the last song and once again, it is emotional and full of anger. I can’t say much about it because I had to digested lyrically first. However I will say this, it ends with Corey Taylor saying “we have suffered enough.”

As for other facets of the album, the guitar solos are still there and a lot of vocal melodies are present as well. If you are a new Slipknot fan, I highly recommend that you buy it today and if you are an old-school Slipknot fan like myself, you should have it already. I pre-ordered it on iTunes and well, how else could I have written about this album?

I give this album 10 out of 10 for being a Slipknot album. This is a great record and a great addition to the Slipknot catalog. Well done by all and I hope it goes to number one, again.

Well, that’s it. If you either agree or disagree with me, you can reply here or email me at blindgordie@gmail.com and I will get back to you.

Hi there and welcome to another post on my blog. today, I’m going to continue on with an entry I posted a few weeks ago about the rock band Queen and why they rock my world. This time, I have some questions I would like to ask them. I don’t know if I’ll get any answers from them but at least I’m trying. Obviously, these questions have been bubbling around my head ever since I posted that particular blog entry. Hopefully I can get at least some answers to these questions in time. Until then, here are my questions to the band Queen and those on The inside.

My first set of questions are about queen and the releases on CD of all the back catalogue in 1991, when they signed with Hollywood records. Obviously I am very happy that all the previous albums before The Works were released on CD for the first time. But, there are things that still bother me to this day of why certain things are the way they are on the newly remastered versions at that time.

On the cassette tape Versions of all the albums, why were most of the Hollywood bonus remixes included on them? I must be honest and say that I didn’t buy all of the albums on cassette but on the ones that I did, I did notice that there was a lot of space left on side one, after the last song on that side. It was about one or two songs deep into side to, before the tape would run to the end and you could turn it over to side 2. Why? This did not and still doesn’t make sense to me to this day. If the Hollywood bonus remixes and the occasional bonus track were put on CD only, then it would make more sense. Don’t you think? This has resulted in some of the foolish editing of certain songs which were released on CD for the first time and I mentioned all of them in the last entry on this topic. I am most certainly happy that all of the original albums were restored and brought back as they were meant to be heard, on the 2011 deluxe releases. This obviously hasn’t affected both the albums Innuendo and Made In heaven because they were released during and after the releases of the bands back catalog.

Also, why were there remixes of songs in the first place? Couldn’t they have included some besides and outtakes like they did on the 2011 deluxe releases? I will grant you that the band wanted to hold stuff back for later and obviously, a lot of good stuff was included on the 2011 deluxe releases of all of the albums. But, I think that would’ve made more sense and this would probably have not resulted in some of the stupid editing that has occurred on the songs I mentioned in the last entry.

on the subject of live albums, why wasn’t the album Live Magic released along with the rest of the studio and live albums at the time? I was looking for it for almost a year, until I just gave up, when Live Wembley 86 was released in June 1992. Then in 1994 I found out it was available, albeit as an import and went out and bought it. If I had known that it would be released in North America in 1996, I probably would’ve waited a little longer for it. What was the hold up?

I am also grateful that a lot of early live material being released as well but there are some live gem’s which I have heard on some radio stations from time to time, that I would like to own on CD or as a digital download. For example: there is a live version of the fast Version of we Will Rock You which is been played on the radio, when radio stations use Queen as a live concert feature. Strangely, it sounds more like a studio version then a live version because it sounds very polished. My guess is that it was recorded on a BBC session or something. I hope that at some point down the road queen release another BBC album, much like the one that was released in 1989 in the UK and in 1995 here in North America and the rest of the world. Maybe it will be released on a boxed set at some point.

I also have some questions on compilation albums and why there aren’t some that are released right now. On the compilation Queen Rocks, there is a song called No one But You: (Only The Good die young) included on it. The song is obviously much more of a ballad than a rocker and on the face of it, it doesn’t make sense. Why on this compilation? Why not release a compilation that would be more suited to it? Or, just release it as a single in the UK and let it wait in North America until Queen Greatest Hits three in 1999?

Will there hopefully be a B sides and remix album released at some point? I think that would be pretty cool because for the first time, I would get to own the remix of Machines, which appeared as the B side to the 7 inch single I Want To Break Free. Apparently it was released on a 12 inches compilation released in 1992, but I didn’t know about it until I read about it on Wikipedia 20 years later.

On iTunes here in North America and specifically Canada, why aren’t all of the Queen albums available? Yes, all of the studio and live albums are available on iTunes for purchase and download in Canada, but not all of the compilations are. For example: there are some compilations which were released specifically in North America which aren’t available on iTunes even in Canada. The Classic Queen compilation released in 1992 is nowhere to be found and neither is the Queen Rocks compilation or Queen Greatest Hits three or the full version of Absolute greatest. I say that because this album is available as a partial album and the same is true with the video version of it. Why is that? Most of these packages have alternate versions of some of the songs and because they aren’t available you can’t find them on iTunes. For example: on Classic Queen there is an alternate version of Under Pressure, which really isn’t that different from the original version but you can hear the guitar more and the vocals are much more emphasized in that the mix sounds more like it was recorded in the early 90s.

Also, the song Tie Your Mother Down appears on both the compilations Queen Rocks and Classic Queen, without the long beginning which appears on A Day At The Races, going right into the guitar riff. if those two compilations were released on iTunes in North America, we would have pretty much everything that is available on CD. of course, we mustn’t forget about Queen Greatest Hits 3 as well, which includes yet another version of Under Pressure.

This also begs the question, why isn’t the compilation The Platinum Collection available on iTunes in North America? All the albums including the three CD box set or released in North America but not as a digital download. Why? I think it would be pretty cool to own all of these compilations in my iTunes library and if they were available, I would download them in a heartbeat provided I had enough money in my iTunes account at the time.

I am hoping that the new album Queen Forever will be released both physically and as a digital download on iTunes on November 10 and of course, if it is available I will get it. I have heard bits and I think it is a very interesting compilation, although it does focus on the Balids and I much prefer the hard rocking Queen sound. However, this isn’t bad either because of the new material coming out. The one song I have heard so far is Let Me In Your Heart Again and it isn’t bad. It was taken from The Works era but there are no drum machines or synthesizers on the song. It’s a shame that it wasn’t released back then. Maybe it would’ve helped to keep Queen popular here in North America, when it was waning, thanks to Hot Space, which was released in 1982. The question is, would it have fit on The Works? Well, maybe not.

Anyway, those are some questions I had wanted to put out there for a while about all things related to Queen. Hopefully the answers will come out in time on Wikipedia or other places. Actually, all of the questions I have posted here are because of none of the answers being available on Wikipedia.

Well, that’s it for today’s entry in the blog. If you would like to get in touch with me, just send me an email at blindgordie@gmail.com and I will get back to you.